Hoots Hanger

ABSTRACT

The inventor has produced a device to simplify the supporting of the artist&#39;s reference material. The device being conveniently mounted to the drawing board to support the reference.

The inventor, Leonard Gibson, is filing an application for patent of a system (commercially referred to as a ‘Hoots Hanger’) that allows the user of an upright drawing/painting support to mount a two-dimensional reference material (be it a drawing, photograph, painting, drawing, etc) of that which he is painting at an angle relative to the painting surface that reduces spatial distortions of perspective.

The system is comprised of stiff board (polystyrene foam bonded between two layers of wood-fiber veneer, commercially sold as ‘Gatorboard’) that has been perforated at each corner with a series of three holes (see Drawing 1 ‘Board and Support Arm Assembly” for perforation pattern), a support arm made from metal that has been perforated at one end with the same pattern of holes as the board and has been deflected 30 degrees, and two bolts used to adjoin the latter two parts together. This system may be assembled in such a way as to enable the user to mount his example on his left and/or right (with one or two support arms), with the board oriented horizontally or vertically. The two-dimensional sample of the drawing may be secured to the support arm via any appropriate means (examples: adhesive tape, paper clip) and the system's mass and weight are low enough to enable it to be easily transported and assembled in the user's place of choice. 

1. The ‘Hoots Hanger’ is a system comprised of a flat, smooth drawing surface (polystyrene foam bonded between two layers of wood-fiber veneer, commercially sold as ‘Gatorboard’) and a detachable support arm made from thin metal (0.032″×0.75″×12″) and bolted together in a way that enables a two-dimensional reference material to be mounted immediately adjacent to the drawing surface, at an angle of 30 degrees relative to the drawing surface, and which requires no tools to assemble. By mounting the reference material at 30 degrees relative to the drawing surface, all of its details (from left to right) are perpendicular to the viewer, reducing the horizontal spatial distortions of perspective. This allows the user's eye to perceive the details of the reference material in their true relation to each other. The inventor claims that the convenient positioning of the reference material is a new innovation for the artist that is far superior to the methods available before this invention came to light. 